During the colonial era of the Philippines, the term "Filipino" served the same purpose as the term "Criollo" in Latin America, though there it implied the birth of the unmixed Spaniard person in the Philippines. "Insular" had a synonymous meaning with "Filipino", and also implied the birth of a Spaniard on the islands. Those Spaniards that were born in Europe were still denominated "Peninsulares".
The term "Filipino" was drastically changed during the Philippine Revolution when it was taken by nationalistic natives from the governing Spanish and Spanish-mestizo minority, and was transformed into a national designation to include the native majority as well.
Today, "Filipino" stands for the exact opposite of its colonial meaning, and is now used in reference for the population majority, the unmixed native Malays of the archipelago, while ironically it now somewhat excludes the 1% mixed Spanish-descended minority (Spanish-mestizos) who are seen, and often regard themselves, as foreigners.
The population of Spanish-mestizos (native Malay and Spanish or Mexican) in the Philippines has never accounted for more than 1% of the demographics of the Philippines. Meanwhile, numbers of creoles have always accounted for even fewer than the Spanish-mestizos, and today number only 17,000 (0.02%) amid a population of native Filipinos not far from 90 million


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